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Toxin levels in fish lead to calls for UK-wide ban on mercury dental fillings

Toxin levels in fish lead to calls for UK-wide ban on mercury dental fillings

Britain is facing mounting pressure to ban mercury dental fillings, one of the few countries yet to prevent the practice, as new data reveals alarming contamination levels in the nation’s fish and shellfish.

CHEMICALS FRESHWATER POLLUTION PUBLIC HEALTH WILDLIFE
PUBLISHED IN:
LINKS:
• THE GUARDIAN
Regulators overlooking toxic Pfas found around Lancashire chemicals plant

Regulators overlooking toxic Pfas found around Lancashire chemicals plant

Exclusive: Environment Agency not testing for ‘forever chemical’ made by factory despite evidence of emissions. Regulators measuring “forever chemicals” near a Lancashire chemicals plant are not testing for a substance made by the company itself, despite evidence it could be reprotoxic and is being emitted in large volumes. To read in full, click on the […]

CHEMICALS ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE POLLUTION
PUBLISHED IN:
LINKS:
• THE GUARDIAN
£500m Thames Water desalination plant has provided just seven days’ water over 15 years

£500m Thames Water desalination plant has provided just seven days’ water over 15 years

London’s desalination plant has cost more than half a billion pounds since 2010 and has run only five times, delivering 7.2bn litres of drinking water, roughly seven days of London’s typical daily demand. Now Thames Water is planning a new £500m project to tackle drought in the capital. The Thames Gateway desalination plant at Beckton, built for […]

CLIMATE CRISIS FRESHWATER LAND USE WATER RESOURCES
PUBLISHED IN:
LINKS:
• THE GUARDIAN
Thousands of tonnes of toxic landfill liquid added to sewage and spread on English farms

Thousands of tonnes of toxic landfill liquid added to sewage and spread on English farms

England is spreading farmland with sewage sludge contaminated by 750,000 tonnes of landfill leachate each year. Packed with PFAS, dioxins, microplastics and more, the toxins survive weak treatment and outdated regulation, threatening soils, rivers, crops, food safety and public health.

CHEMICALS LAND USE POLLUTION PUBLIC HEALTH
PUBLISHED IN:
LINKS:
• THE GUARDIAN • THE GUARDIAN • THE GUARDIAN • THE GUARDIAN
How can we reduce the impact of plastic on the environment?

How can we reduce the impact of plastic on the environment?

An estimated 445,970 tonnes of nurdles enter the environment every year, making them the second largest source of primary microplastic pollution globally. Find out more about the largest nurdle spill on record.

OCEANS PLASTICS POLLUTION
PUBLISHED IN:
LINKS:
• BBC Inside Science
Only 0.5% of 90,000 oil slicks reported over five-year period, analysis finds

Only 0.5% of 90,000 oil slicks reported over five-year period, analysis finds

“It is appalling to hear of the extreme levels of toxic pollution caused by these oil spills from shipping, as well as the frankly mind-bending under-reporting of the situation,” Hugo Tagholm, the executive director of Oceana UK.

OCEANS POLLUTION
PUBLISHED IN:
LINKS:
• The Guardian
The lasting toxic legacy of cargo ship disaster revealed, for BBC online and TV news

The lasting toxic legacy of cargo ship disaster revealed, for BBC online and TV news

Four years after a stricken cargo ship caused the largest plastic spill ever recorded, volunteers on Sri Lanka's beaches are still sifting kilograms of tiny plastic pellets from the sand. Worse, those pieces of plastic now appear to be becoming even more toxic.

CHEMICALS ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE OCEANS PLASTICS POLLUTION WILDLIFE
PUBLISHED IN:
LINKS:
• BBC • BBC TV
Sri Lanka: The X Press Pearl disaster podcast

Sri Lanka: The X Press Pearl disaster podcast

In 2021 a huge cargo ship, the X-Press Pearl caught fire and sank off the coast of Sri Lanka, triggering an environmental crisis. The country is still counting the cost. "The beach was covered with oil, dead turtles, and shipping containers. We've never had the same amount of fish that we used to catch. Our lives have turned upside down."

DOCUMENTARY ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE OCEANS POLLUTION WILDLIFE
PUBLISHED IN:
LINKS:
• BBC Radio • Apple podcasts • BBC Sounds • Pulitzer Center
Another PFAS scientific paper published

Another PFAS scientific paper published

An industrial site where a chemicals plant is based is still releasing a complex mix of both old and new PFAS into air, soils and water.

CHEMICALS OTHER STORIES POLLUTION SCIENTIFIC PAPERS
PUBLISHED IN:
LINKS:
• Environmental Science and Technology

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